Gutierrez v. State

979 S.W.2d 659, 1998 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 151, 1998 WL 797000
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 18, 1998
Docket1477-97
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 979 S.W.2d 659 (Gutierrez v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gutierrez v. State, 979 S.W.2d 659, 1998 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 151, 1998 WL 797000 (Tex. 1998).

Opinions

OPINION

MeCORMICK, P.J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court,

in which MANSFIELD, KELLER, PRICE, HOLLAND and WOMACK, JJ., joined.

Appellant was convicted of first degree murder. The jury sentenced him to life imprisonment. The San Antonio Court of Appeals reversed the conviction and remanded the cause for a new trial. The Court of Appeals held that the trial court should have granted appellant’s motion for change of venue as a matter of law because his properly verified application was not controverted, appellant did not waive the requirement that the State produce a controverting affidavit, and that no evidentiary hearing justifying the denial of the motion was conducted. We granted the State’s petition for discretionary review to determine whether appellant waived his motion for change of venue and whether this Court should reconsider its de-[660]*660cisión in Revia v. State, 649 S.W.2d 625 (Tex.Cr.App.1983). We will reverse the judgement of the Court of Appeals.

In Revia, this Court held, based upon our previous holding in Enriquez v. State, 429 S.W.2d 141 (Tex.Cr.App.1968), that the time limitations found in Section 2 of Article 28.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, do not apply to motions for change of venue because these issues involve questions of constitutional dimension. In Revia, appellant was indicted for the offense of murder in May of 1978. The record reflects that on October 6, 1978, the trial court conducted a pretrial conference pursuant to Article 28.01, V.A.C.C.P. Trial was then reset and eventually commenced on December 5,1978. On December 4, 1978, prior to the commencement of the voir dire examination of the jury panel, appellant for the first time presented his motion for a change of venue. The trial court denied appellant’s motion because it was untimely filed. The State never controverted appellant’s motion nor was appellant ever given a hearing on his motion. This Court held that overruling a motion for change of venue without a hearing, and without the motion being controverted by the State was reversible error. Id. at 627, citing Durrough v. State, 562 S.W.2d 488 (Tex.Cr.App.1978), appeal after remand, 620 S.W.2d 134 (Tex.Cr. App.1981); Fields v. State, 627 S.W.2d 714 (Tex.Cr.App.1982).

In the case at bar, appellant’s first pretrial hearing was held on October 19, 1994, to determine whether a reduction of bond was in order. An additional pretrial hearing was set for November 4, 1994, and trial was set for November 7, 1994. On November 4, 1994, a hearing was held on appellant’s motion to continue the November 7 trial date. The motion was granted, and the court scheduled another pretrial hearing for November 16, 1994, and reset the trial for December 5, 1994. On November 22, 1994, a pretrial hearing was held on three motions filed by appellant. Not one of the motions pertained to a change of venue. The court granted a motion for continuance, resetting the trial date for January 24, 1995. The court also set a hearing on a motion to quash the indictment for December 14, 1994. At the hearing on December 14, 1994, the court heard the motion to quash the indictment, but no motion for a change of venue was either filed or mentioned by appellant.

Thereafter, appellant filed another motion for continuance and a motion for change of venue at 9:40 a.m. on January 24, 1995, the day on which trial was to commence. The trial judge initially denied the motion for change of venue but granted the motion for continuance. However, the trial judge later indicated that he would hold an evidentiary hearing on appellant’s motion for change of venue at the next pretrial hearing:

“The Court: You filed a motion for change of venue?
“Mr. Cortes: Yes, Your Honor.
“The Court: Okay, and I will deny that motion.
“Mr. Kirkendall: Your Honor, I would like the record to reflect that this ease has been set for pretrial on at least three occasions, the most recent being yesterday, the 23rd.
“Today, the 24th, is the date they filed their motion for change of venue and handed it to me just this moment. Article 28.01 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires that any such motion be filed at least 7 days before pretrial or be waived.
“The Court: I denied it as far as the change of venue is concerned.
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“Mr. Kirkendall: Your Honor, is there another pretrial date we could have for the—
“The Court: Yes, I would like to—
“Mr. Kirkendall: — the motion for change of venue, particularly.
“The Court: All right, let me do this.
“Mr. Kirkendall: It is going to have to be an evidentiary motion.
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“The Court: In fact, before you leave here today, we are going to come up with a date for that pretrial, Okay? All right.”

Following this pretrial hearing on January 24, 1995, the State filed controverting affidavits. The trial judge then reset the trial for [661]*661February 28, 1995, and scheduled another pretrial hearing for January 27,1995.

At the January 27, 1995, pretrial hearing, the trial court allowed appellant’s counsel to take up the motion for change of venue. Counsel for the appellant refused to present the motion or present any evidence in favor of the motion. Appellant’s counsel claimed that the motion to change venue had been denied by the trial court. The trial court afforded appellant an opportunity to present the motion and any evidence pertaining to the motion:

“The Court: The criminal case for today is Cause No. 94-1081-CR, the State of Texas v. Marcos Gutierrez.
“Mr. Kirkendall: The State is ready, Your Honor.
“Mr. Cortes: Defendant is ready, Your Honor.
“The Court: Is the defense ready?
“Mr. Cortes: We’re ready to proceed.
“The Court: We’re here on a hearing on your motion for change of venue. Is that correct?
“Mr. Cortes: I would object to the proceeding as far as that is concerned, Your Honor. My understanding is that my change of venue was denied a couple of times on the record on Tuesday.
“The Court: Okay. Now, do you want a hearing?
“Mr. Cortes: No, Your Honor, I don’t want a hearing.
“The Court: We on [sic] the record now, sir. And what I’m concerned about is— if you want a hearing, this is your opportunity-
“Mr. Cortes: I will object to the proceedings on the motion for new trial, especially in light of Stapleton v. State,

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553 S.W.3d 537 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018)
Ware v. State
62 S.W.3d 344 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
McClinton v. State
38 S.W.3d 747 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2001)
Verdin v. State
13 S.W.3d 121 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Gutierrez v. State
979 S.W.2d 659 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
979 S.W.2d 659, 1998 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 151, 1998 WL 797000, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gutierrez-v-state-texcrimapp-1998.